Pez1974

I think we'll see at least couple leave in the summer. Bowery could easily move on, and I think either Luna or Bennett will go. Benteke may go if we gt a good price, KEA because we need to replace him and Lowton for 'reasons'.

Bacuna's a definite Benteke probably Vlaar could probably smash one Errr..... Weimann? Holt is probably OK Westwood maybe Lowton perhaps Tonev, Gabby, Delph - never

I've thought this before, but more on the Indian market, given the ethnicity of Birmingham. We should never go for tokenism, but I can't imagine there isn't some youth out there worth a punt! But before we do, can we check whether the 4 year Salifou experiment helped us corner the Togolese market.

All good, except..... Why has we only been up and running for 2 months when others have been doing so for 2 years? The Chinese market is huge, and account for approaching a fifth of the planets population. Surely we knew this before November last year. This sort of stuff is great, but not difficult and we should not be is far behind others.

Interesting to see how Narwich handle this. They have taken a tough stance, made the transfer request public and signed a replacement on loan. So, do they keep him warming him warming the bench until at least the summer (keeping the hard line, but costing them cash) or sell him to us, on our terms, and look soft as shit, but still probably try to spin it as it being what they wanted all along. One thing is for sure, if we do sign him, he fee will be undisclosed.

Disagree somewhat. It was reported I believe that we got a loan fee for Bent, with Fulham paying 100% of his wages. Although not a direct 'transfer fee' it does somewhat cover the reduced value of Bent as he will be for sale in May with only 1 year remaining on his contract. It is my opinion that the overriding issue with Bent (and many of the others) is their wages. Nothing Lambert or anyone else could do would change this, and he is only worth what others would pay - and they wouldn't pay it. Clearly, no-one wanted to give Bent the (reported) £70k per week over 4 years that he would want to leave us, plus the £6m (ish) we wanted, making his full contract a cost to the new club of well over £20m. Fulham are paying £5m or £6m for a year of Bent, which clearly made economic sense to them. We made a panic buy - and it worked in the short term. However, we must have known that his resale value would be massively reduced owing to his age and salary demands.

Agreed. Plus we got a 'loan fee' for Bent from Fulham. I actually think us trying to recoup some money has been an issue with shifting a few others, as we refuse to simply bankroll their departure. I also think Lambert is in no way culpable. Now, if we started flogging his signings and getting nothing for them, I would point the finger, but as has been said, their lower wages and age will make them attractive to others, so we should be able to shift them quickly, without cost, and in most cases, for a fee.

WHam, Stoke, Narwich - anyone.

I can't believe people are having a pop at a player because the manager brought them on! Gabby had a great game, but got injured. The reason Gabby was ripping them apart was becuase of his pace - nothing else. We have no-one else with his pace, so a like-for-like replacement was out of the question. Lambert choose to change the formation when Holt came on, and personally I thought Holt did a decent job (whether Lambert should have changed the formation is not a question for this thread). He put himself about, helped marshall the team, and held up the ball a few times, which has been a problem over the past 18 months, as the ball can bounce off Benteke. When he had the ball he got his head up and tried to play others in - it went wrong a few times but that will come down to him training with his team mates and understanding how they play. I also thought his introduction allowed Benteke more room, as before Skrtel and Toure we're simply sitting on him. He certainly did not look fat or unfit (albeit for only 40 minutes) but maybe lacked a bit of sharpness, but as we all know, if Benteke breaks his leg tomorrow, we will have a problem as Holt is nowhere near as good. But as an option off the bench - he looked just fine.

Really good debut, considering he had no time to train with the defence. I half expected him to keep being out of position (i.e. playing people on-side by being too deep, or being caught too far forward without anyone providing cover). However, I think the biggest difference was the effect he had on Delph, who always seemed to be the player asked to cover our LB's failings over recent months. The result was that Delph had a greater impact in midfield than hs has at times, and got forward more, making it harder for their midfield to dominate, and allowed the others in our midfield and attack to hold their positions.

David Geddis Came in a few times during 80/81 - scored a few goals and never let the team down.

Cowans Mortimer Platt Taylor

I am concerned about Lambert. His tactics concern me; and his hit rate on signings concern me. But I don't think we should get rid - that would be too expensive and we need stability to progress. I understand (and am frustrated by) the financial constraints he is working under, and think his appraoch is correct, albeit with a few cock-ups along the way. But to judge someone in the most difficult phase of his job here is somewhat unfair, and if the club think they have to spend a few years putting right previous mistakes, why would you throw it all away when we are 11th?

I genuinely can't make my mind up either way. For me it's 50/50. I don't think Randy will stretch to 50/50 - it all seems a bit high given budget restrictions. Maybe 10/10

Very true. But do you mean important?

Some of the negativity does make me wonder..... Sure, some signings haven't been up to it, but we aren't going to lose the amount of money on them that we have on Ireland, for example. In our current predicament, that is crucial. However, everyone knows that it is unlikely you will find more than than the very occasional gem either. The cheap signings will hopefully do an acceptable job, rather than become England regulars - and we just have to accept that, whether we like it or not. So, Bennett and Luna haven't cut it yet. Bennett has had a lot of injuries, so he may be the next Delph or the next Ivo Stas - let's wait and see. Luna is clearly struggling, so he may be the next Petrov or the next Bosko Balaban - let's wait and see. It isn't just us getting it wrong either - ManUre paid more for Anderson (and Fellani) than Man City paid for Yaya Toure. Ashley Young has been terrible at Man U, but we were gutted when he left. Sack Fergie? And sacking Lambert, and his staff, would cost us millions in compensation. Money that could be spent on a midfielder!

I thought we could have up to 4 loanees, but only 2 from the Prem?

Most clubs do nothing in January, so IMO in Holt and Bertrand we have already improved both our first team and our options in the squad, and probably for the same amount as shifting out Ireland permanently. Good business, and we aren't affecting our financial stability. Heopfully we have a few quid for the right CM and/or CB.

Reports here turned down Liverpool to come here. It's in the Metro, but.... if true, he clearly wants to play and likes a challenge

Hopefully. I can't see Luna surviving if Suarez/Sturridge are running at him. I don't think he will start though given that he only signed today. Yep - imagine him starting without having been coached here how to play left back

Wow - VillaTalk in agreement over "good signing" STOP THE PRESSES!

Good signing. Somehting to prove, and behind Cole and that Azipilacueta (sic) guy there. May even have a chance of perm?!?!?!?!?!

As a finisher - Shaw, Saunders, Yorke for me in that order. Dennis Mortimer was also a brilliant finisher IMO - the amount of 1 on 1's he had, particularly in 80/81, was mad, and he never seemed to not score! Worst - Heskey, no question.

Exactly. If we had bought Holt when first Lambert arrived on a 3 year deal, I think most people would have thought this good business (price depending). 18 months later, he's terrible (in some people's eyes) for 5 months, as cover! You can look at WHam and see a lot worse than us - Roger Johnson, Andy Carroll for that much, now this rumour. At least we have a plan, whether we like it or not!

A huge success? Really? Absolutely. No striker coming off the bench has scored a single goal for Villa all season. Pretty sure ( I may be wrong ) the only goal scored from a sub was Bacuna's against Cardiff. Why would you expect Grant Holt to do much more? Kozak came on early for Benteke at Norwich and scored the winner